Susan Seale Jarvis, JD Literature Category Winner
Quid Pro Quo Quid Pro Quo: “Something for something.” Black’s Law Dictionary The cell phone rings, right on time. The calling number may be blocked but the caller’s ID is no mystery. Answer the call and the game begins; the stakes are high. Agree to the terms and the coveted position is assured; renounce the terms and the chief resident’s professional career takes a nosedive. Dr. Bernard Hayes, the caller and chief of surgery, holds the power to control his future and Mark Jacobs knows it. “Mark, my boy, just calling to tell you what a fine job you did assisting me this morning. Strengthens my inclination to recommend you for that position you applied for. No doubt you will fit right in at one of the best clinics in the country—can’t get much better than that. You do a good job for me, and I do the same for you. I think the lawyers call it ‘quid pro quo.’ Anyway, we need to talk.” Mark reads between the lines. Keep quiet about this morning in the OR and the chief will assure him the position he wants. Report the incident, and he’ll be blackballed from every decent clinic in the country. “I’ll keep your message in mind, sir. If you’ll excuse me, my beeper’s going off. I’m still on call. I’ll have to call you back later.” Mark’s way of buying time. In another month he’ll be out of here, away from the city teaching hospital, away from the complex cases the inner city patients present, away from what happened this morning. Why should Mark get involved? What difference will it make in the long run? This morning’s patient was a 17-year-old male with a gunshot wound to the abdomen, the result of an early-morning shooting in one of the projects. The bullet was lodged near the patient’s heart. Dr. Hayes was the attending on call and Mark was to assist. The first thing Mark noticed when the chief came in to scrub was the disheveled appearance. Quite a contrast to the usual GQ demeanor. The odor of breath mints permeated the air. The boisterous voice was unlike the usual smooth tones of speech: 15